This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
1. Take every opportunity to go to writerly meet-ups!
We tend to be such solitary creatures but it's good to get out there and
mingle, because no one understands you like other writers. Romantic Novelists’
Association parties are great for this – just lay in a stock of painkillers for
the inevitable hangover…
2. Give
yourself permission to write total rubbish at first – a swift Cosmopolitan
helps you to chill out and enjoy the process of doing a first draft without too
many hang-ups and with maximum freedom to have crazy ideas. Then once you’ve
got it all down on paper, you can cut and polish and blow-dry (oops, off to
hairdresser later, got muddled) till your story is a shiny thing of beauty.
3. You know
you’ve got a good, juicy storyline when you find you keep on waking up in the
middle of the night wondering if you’re going to be sued.
4. When you
think you've finished your novel or short story read it aloud. By 'hearing' it
instead of reading it you'll discover typos, clunky sentences and awkward
dialogue you didn't know existed and you can drink wine and put on silly voices
for your characters to keep yourself amused while you do it! (Just make sure
your flatmates aren't in…)
5. Hire
good-looking men to take care of all boring household tasks (cleaning, cooking,
mixing cocktails, looking decorative, etc) so that you have more time to write.
And when all else fails…turn to the drink.
Why not read our full interview with author Kitty here?